“I would try to hurt him,” he said. “I would go right at his knees. That’s the goal. You want to knock him out. That might be the difference between winning and losing the Super Bowl. Trust me, back when I came in the league, these are the conversations we had: ‘Hey man, we need to knock him out.' That’s just what it is.”

Panthers’ tight end Greg Olsen wasted no time firing back.

“People coming right out overtly and stating that they would try to injure your star quarterback in the Super Bowl, I think we’re talking about a different level of comments there,” Olsen was quoted as saying by blackandbluereview.com. “So again, I didn’t hear exactly what he said, but if it was how it’s being portrayed, then I think it's uncalled for and somewhat embarrassing.”

Harrison played 15 seasons for the Chargers and Patriots from 1994-2008. Four times he earned first team All-Pro honors and he’s got two Super Bowl rings. During his career, he was frequently flagged for unnecessary roughness and had the reputation for being dirty.

Harrison noted that taking out Newton would have been a looker room conversation among defensive players during his era. He added that low hits might deter a running quarterback from leaving the pocket.

“We’re going for his knees,” Harrison continued. “Every time he runs the ball, we need seven, eight guys hitting him. Hitting him in the shoulder. If he tries to jump over the pile, put your crown of your helmet right through his throat. That’s just the mentality. These are the conversations that no one talks about...You look at the Denver Broncos and they are so complimentary of Cam, ‘Oh he’s so great. He’s this, he’s that.’ But my conversation would be, we need to knock him out. We need him make him to the point where he doesn’t want to run the football.”

Patrick then made mention of Panthers' playoff loss to San Francisco in January 2014, noting that the 49ers put a beating on him that day.

“That’s what you have to do,” Harrison responded. “He’s a big man. And that’s the only way you’re going to discourage a quarterback that wants to the run the ball. You have to hit him in his mouth, over and over again.”

Vernon Davis is a charitable guy, and it's one of the reasons he's the Washington Redskins Walter Payton Man of the Year nominee.

His latest gesture is an attempt to bring a little joy to a grieving family after they recently lost their 17-year-old son, who Davis had previously met. The Redskins veteran tight end met the Howey family and their son, Ryan, who was a huge Washington fan and was going through treatment for brain cancer, according to the team.

Sadly not long after Ryan and his family met Davis, he passed away.

"It broke my heart," Davis told TMZ in a video, adding that about a year ago, Ryan was "totally fine" and going to Redskins games. "It was unfortunate he had to deal with that."

And Davis wanted to do what he could for the Howey family and "bring some joy to their spirit," so he gave them two tickets to Super Bowl LIII, and, with the help of the Washington Redskins Charitable Foundation, he was able to get them a third so Ryan's parents and sister could all attend the game together. Davis said is also paying for their flights to Atlanta and hotel as well.

He said after he heard Ryan passed away, he reached out via FaceTime to the Howey family, and, of course, they didn't know what to expect from such a call. And after he told them what he wanted to do, he told TMZ they were crying "tears of joy."

"It was just on my heart," Davis said in his interview with TMZ. "They were the first ones I could think of when it comes to just making them happy, just bringing some joy in their life after all they've had to deal with their son. I just put myself in that situation, you know? I'm just having some compassion here, and I would want the same thing."

Alex Smith spotted at Wizards game wearing big apparatus on injured right leg

Alex Smith spotted at Wizards game wearing big apparatus on injured right leg

Alex Smith was at the Wizards-Pistons game on Monday, having scored some good seats in the owner's suite. The Redskins quarterback was spotted at Capital One Arena wearing a large apparatus on his right leg as he continues his long recovery from his mid-November injury.

The Redskins and Smith's family had previously asked for privacy during his rehab. Major questions remain about whether he'll play in 2019 for the Redskins, or ever again in fact, but at the very least it's good to see him out in public.